Controversial video claims that hit animated film “your name.” was ripped off from other animes

A video uploaded by YouTube user Ms. Rachel showed that some scenes in the hit anime, Kimi no Na wa or your name. by acclaimed director, Makoto Shinkai, were taken from other animes such as The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006) by Mamoru Hosoda and Nijiiro Hotaru (2012) by Kōnosuke Uda.

These particular scenes were some of the most moving and dramatic shots in Kimi no Na wa. It was when Mitsuha, the girl protagonist from the film, was running down the mountain in a desperate attempt to save her town. The user argued that it looks exactly as the scene from Nijiiro Hotaru.

And when Mitsuha tripped and fell as she was running down the mountain, the user pointed out that the key animator copied that scene from when Makoto (protagonist from The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) tripped and fell as she was trying to stop Kosuke from getting killed.

Though the semblance is undeniably similar with the scenes from Nijiiro Hotaru and Kimi no Na wa, the director of Nijiiro Hotaru, Kōnosuke Uda defended that this does not mean it has been copied:

“When I saw Your Name in the theater, I was like ‘Wait, is that…?’ But that’s just my personal opinion. If a director makes sufficient changes, then that’s original. It isn’t something you can just call a rip-off and have that be the end of the discussion.”

Another video was recently uploaded by the same user that compared stills from Nijiiro Hotaru and Kimi no Na wa vis-a-vis each other: